In December 2008, the U.S. lost 524,000 jobs, while Texas gained 7,300, Mirabi said. The overall Texas unemployment rate is at 5.7 percent, he said.

“We are the number one exporter in the U.S.,” Mirabi said. “We have been for some time.”

Texas had $170 billion in exports last year. In Texas, 2.2 million jobs are related to international trade activities. Chemicals were Texas’ most important export, making up $35 billion followed by computers and electronics.